The Little Things
by ForeverAchild
Summary: Tony Stark reflects on the things he loves most about Pepper before moving their relationship forwards.


Tony Stark could appreciate beautiful things. New cars, his machines, the view from his bedroom. They all spoke to him; they all had a way of enticing him in. Once Tony was hooked on something beautiful, he was never going to let go of it. It would become his guilty pleasure, the thing he always had to have. When he first moved into his house in Malibu and looked out of his window, he vowed only ever to stay in rooms with views that could equal it. Of course, there were not many, and so he would always take a picture of his window with him. When Tony was five years old he watched his father reconstruct a beautiful classic 60s car. That day he vowed to drive only the best cars that money could buy. Today he had a ridiculously expensive collection downstairs in his garage. When Tony Stark wanted something, he would always get it, no matter how long it took. Even if he had to open up a chain of hotels in every single country, he would make sure he got the best views.

When he couldn't have something, it tantalised him. It would stay around him, just in his eyesight, but never quite close enough to touch. Pepper Potts was one such thing. She was always there, two steps behind him. She always knew exactly what he was doing and when. She had handled working for him incredibly well; he had not made life easy for her at the beginning. Everything he said to her was a hidden innuendo or a flirtatious comment. She had brushed off everything he said with a flick of her hair. He hadn't even succeeded in making her blush.

For a while he had stopped trying to coax her into his bed. He began to respect her as a person, not just a body. That was how their strange working relationship was formed. They were friends. Well, Tony thought of Pepper as his friend. He didn't have many, but he would trust any one of his friends with his life. That included Pepper. Tony was ninety-nine percent sure that he was one of her only friends. She rarely seemed to go out, and when she did it was never for very long. A job like hers took up a lot of her life, and so friends fell pretty low on her list of priorities. Tony reasoned that, by default, if she was lacking in friends then he must be near to the top of her list. He had to be, or he doubted she would have stuck around with him for this long. Still, in the underlying depths of their friendship, Tony knew there was something else. Lust.

For years he had behaved himself. He had stopped himself from trying to seduce her, and _God_ that had been hard. Instead, Tony had settled for admiring her from a distance. The first part of her his eyes were drawn to was her hair. The way the flaming locks called out to him. Her hair was normally up when he saw her, pulled out of her face tightly- never a hair out of place. While he always thought her hair looked good, he particularly loved it when she wore it down. He loved the way that the curls fell down her back, and a few flyaway strands clung to her face. It seemed so much more natural to him. Pepper seemed so much more perfect when she looked like that.

The next thing he would obsess over was her legs. They seemed to go on forever, especially when she was in heels. Tony loved it when she wore heels, her posture got just that little bit better, her calves got more defined and she grew in confidence. That was one of his favourite things about her. He loved how self-assured she was. Very few people were bold enough to argue with him, and they never did it on a daily basis. That was something special that he only shared with Pepper. See, while she had this incredible body, it was her mind that really enraptured him. She always had a smart retort to everything. He never worried about her getting harassed by reporters because he knew she could handle herself just fine. Pepper was calm and cool all of the time.

Tony remembered a benefit last year, where Pepper had been cornered by the CEO of a rival company. He didn't know what the man had said to her, but he watched the warmth disappear from her eyes and her mouth become cold and thin. Grateful she'd never looked at him like that., Tony had approached the pair cautiously. He wasn't needed. "I don't know why you think it's appropriate to put your hands on me, and then say something like that." Pepper had hissed at the man. "Don't be surprised to hear from my lawyers." Admiration had surged through Tony as he watched her walk away.

Pepper Potts had always been something he wanted, but he never realised it until he was taken away from her. In that cave in Afghanistan she had been his source of comfort. Of course, she hadn't been there with him. He would never have been able to live with himself if his captors had so much as touched her. It was the thought of Pepper that got him through it. He remembered all of the small details about her, like how her eyes light up when she laughed, and how that little vein in her neck stood out when she was annoyed. Most of all he missed her smile. It was one of the first things he saw in the morning, and quite often one of the last things he saw before he went to sleep. Her smile was a big part of his day and he had missed it like hell. When he got off the jet and saw her his heart had skipped a bit. Her eyes were tinted slightly red as if she had been crying. Her hair wasn't completely tied back, and flyways were brushing across her face. She looked at him and smiled happily. He had never seen her smile quite like that before. It was a mix of relief, happiness, worry, fear and love. She had never looked at him like that before. Nobody had.

They had started dating soon after he returned. It was inevitable really. Three months was a long time, and Tony never wanted to be separated from her again. He would be damned if he ever let her go. She completed him.

2 years later and they are still in love. He loves her more and more every day, and every morning he wakes up and looks at her for a few minutes- thinking about how lucky he is. It's that strong love that has him shaking at his knees right now. He's so nervous, his hands are sweating and he can barely string two sentences together. She looks absolutely stunning in the dress he got her for her birthday, the necklace he gave her as an anniversary present glistens around her neck. Looking at her, he decides that he never wants to go a day without seeing her face.

They sit at the candle lit table in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she speaks. "You're being uncharacteristically quiet."  
She doesn't say it like a question. she just says it looking concerned. He needs to say something back. _Think Tony. What can you say?_ "Maybe I like silence?"  
Pepper smirks. "Tony, I know for a fact that you never enjoy silence."  
He needs to ask her. He has to just blurt it out. NO! He promised himself he would be romantic, make the proposal special. She deserves a beautiful proposal.  
"Pepper," He begins. "You look so beautiful, God, you always look perfect, but there's something about the way you look right now that's just incredible."  
"Thank you." She blushes. Finally, after years of trying, he has succeeded in making a red flush spread across her face.  
"Pepper, I love you, I love you so much it hurts. I never want to spend a day away from you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?" He pulls out the ring he got the other day out of his pocket and looks at her. Her eyes are shining with tears and she nods furiously. Relief floods his body as he slides the ring onto her finger before embracing her gently. His phone buzzed in his pocket, but nothing was going to get him to let go of this woman.

 **A/N Hey everybody, this is my first ever fanfiction. I hope I didn't mess up too badly. This is just a oneshot, I don't think I'll do a sequel or anything. Feel free to leave a review. xx**


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